


The New Normal

by MarzgaPerez



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Bipolar Disorder, Caleb seems nice for a rebound guy, Drabble, Hurt/Comfort, Longing, M/M, Missing Mickey, Oh Ian, Season 6 Blues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 15:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17748494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarzgaPerez/pseuds/MarzgaPerez
Summary: I’m new to the fandom and a total sucker for Gallavich.Was trying to make sense of Ian’s Season 6 relationship with Caleb and how quickly he seemed to move on from Mickey, and this drabble came to me.





	The New Normal

_Is this what normal feels like?_ Ian sat up in the bed he shared with Caleb, the empty spot next to him still warm. He remembered Caleb had an early shift.

Ian’s hands were folded in front of him. They weren’t shaking at the moment. Maybe he’d finally landed on the right dosage. Or close. The meds still left the sensation of a shadow covering the untamed corners of his mind.

 _Normal._ A low hum, constant and steady. White noise that distracts you at first but fades into the background and starts to fit into your life. Dull but comforting. Soothing. That’s what Ian figured he needed now. That was Caleb.

Smooth brown skin over taut muscles. Warm lips that smiled easily. Wine with dinner. Fingers moving slowly and purposefully over every inch of his body. Someone who asked him about his day.

Caleb was as good a partner as anyone, wasn’t he? He had a stable job, an outlet for his creativity, and a family that cared about him—even if his father was kind of a religious nutcase.

Besides, when had Ian ever been exposed to a normal relationship? Frank and Monica? Lip and Karen? Lip and Mandy? Fiona and Steve/Jimmy?

But Caleb wasn’t Mickey. Most people would have said that was a good thing. Mickey was erratic, unsteady, criminal, violent. And Mickey wasn’t available at the moment either. Why? He’d been defending Ian’s honor, retaliating for an injustice.

Or did Mickey just like the drama, thrive on it, wrap Ian in his own mania and then hang around long enough to watch Ian crumble so he could pick up the pieces? Mickey was strong enough to endure just about anything. Ian wasn’t.

Or was he? Maybe Ian needed someone who could slow things down and help him find his rhythm, his place, his focus.

You can love someone, and they can still be wrong for you. Ian had seen that before. Time and time again.

As he lay still some nights, even with Caleb breathing softly next to him, Ian could feel Mickey’s heartbeat, knew that Mickey was awake in his cell, thinking about him, longing for the place in the crook of Ian’s shoulder to rest his chin. 

He remembered Mickey’s calloused hands ghosting over his bare skin. And how easily he could elicit a soft whimper from Mickey with a rough tug of his jeans, as they dropped down around his knees.

But he’d have to let Mickey go. For now. Not forever. That wasn’t possible. The addiction would take hold of him again someday, coursing through him as rapidly as his own blood.

Caleb helped him breathe again, but Mickey kept him alive.


End file.
